Intel Q9550 vs Q9650

Is there any big power difference between the intel Quad Q9550 and the Q9650? Is the Q9650 worth all the extra money? Will it give significantly more synth voices and larger amounts of plugins? Should i wait for the new processors about to be released by Intel and will they be significantly more powerful but in the same price range?

Has anyone had problems with the ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe P45 motherboard (With Sonar/Uad/SCOPE)?

I'm looking to upgrade my Studio soon and will need a better computer. Looking to get the most powerfullest computer i can in my budget range but don't want to spend too much on insignificantly better CPU. Any insight would be appreciated.

Maestro,

You will be HAPPY with the Q9300 DP35DP combo. That's what I have and it is solid. I came from a P4 3.2Ghz machine.

regards,

ORIGINAL: MaestroGeek

I'm sure at certain point Q9650 will have a slight edge over Q9550. But drawing from my experience of dealing with Intel processors, it probably won't be all that much of a significant difference in performance. In terms of whether it's worth the extra money, well, for a poor musician like myself, I would spare that extra cash and use it on something else...maybe towards that Guitar Rig upgrade. In fact, I'm building my new machine with Q9300 on Intel DP35DP.
Scope? Are you talking about Creamware/SonicCore DSP card? I have 3 DSP cards from Creamware/SonicCore and I'll be test driving those babies on this new machine I'm building. I can't tell you much about ASUS board you're referring to, but at least I can share what kind of results I may get out of the system I'm building.
BTW, my current machine is still running on P4 3GHz...for about 6-7 years now. It's been showing its age with all the new fancy plug-ins.

There is more then a $200 difference in price between the Q9550 and the Q9650. I agree if on a tight budget that $200 may not be worth it if the difference is'nt pretty significant and that the money can be better spent elsewhere. I don't expect the differences between any of the latest Quads to be mind-blowing just was wondering if the differences between the two i mentioned where noticable and able to have a nice impact in my music-production. Trying to figure out ruffly around how significant is the difference in relations to my needs and expectations. I know my cpu-power-needs are growing and will continue to grow, i know that alot of newer plugins are more power-hungry and that will continue to be; so i want to get the most powerfullest cpu i can without going overboard with insignificance/subtleties or spending too much money in general. I don't want to have to buy another computer for atleast 5 years. Unfortunately processors are'nt like plugins wich you can download and compare, maybe one day we will ..

Yes i am referring to the SonicCore SCOPE, That's the heart of my studio and what i build everything around. dsp cards can be quite fussy with certain motherboards and i'm curious about the P45 chipset. I'm sure i'll need to inquire on dsp card forums also but know there are many users here to, plus Sonar is in the equation.

Hopefully i'll have all the info i need soon and may have my new studio finished in a couple weeks.. Wich should be long before the Great Depression will have fully set in .